[BL]The Hero and his Party Won't Let Me Go-Chapter 163: Ch : My Place - Part 1

’Finally, the kids are asleep. Should I take a small walk around the Imperial Palace?’

Shuu sighed as he looked at the sleeping faces in front of him. Looking at them made him feel a little bit better, but the loneliness he wanted to defeat started to crawl back slowly.

To get rid of this feeling, Shuu quickly got up and left the room.

Dozens of eyes immediately turned toward him to focus on him and his behavior. They were judging him, seeing if they could find any cracks in his armor to make use of. None of these people were on Shuu’s side, and he knew this.

So he kept walking until he ran into a familiar face.

Duke Inferno and Baron Conner stood in front of Shuu, and he paused once he noticed them. He wondered if he should react to them, but decided to ignore them in the end and walk past them.

They noticed him as well, but unlike him, who pretended not to see them, they decided to engage with him.

"What a delight it is to see you here, companion... Ah, I mean, ex-companion Shuu. Would you allow me some of your time?"

Duke Inferno’s soft voice made Shuu shiver, and despite his instincts telling him not to, he still decided to stop and hear him out.

Seeing that Shuu had stopped, Duke Inferno let out a smile before he walked toward him. Each step he took was calculated to make Shuu more and more nervous. But Shuu tried his best not to show it on his face.

Shuu kept his eyes on the Duke, tracing the hand reaching for his shoulder and waiting to see what would happen.

The Duke touched Shuu’s shoulder before pretending to pat it and brush away imaginary dirt.

"Why are you so tense, Shuu? You might no longer be Kaiden’s companion, but you are still his partner, right? You even bore him a kid, and that makes us family. You should learn to relax around me by now."

Duke Inferno told Shuu with a smile on his face. But each second made Shuu more and more nervous to stay around that man.

There was... just something off about him. Not to mention his present company...

"Ah, that reminds me... I would like you to meet a good friend of mine. I have a feeling that an introduction would not be needed between you two. But I would still like to give you one."

Duke Inferno’s smile did not falter for even a second. There was something far too disturbing about that smile, and Shuu decided to take a step back in shock.

"I... don’t have time for this..."

Shuu tried to make an excuse, but Duke Inferno had a knowing look on his face.

"Oh-! So you have something to do? As far as I know, you were not given any work to do because of your lack of capabilities. But I guess you must have some capabilities. Otherwise, why would the Goddess ask you to enter the temple as the next High Priest?"

That was news to Shuu.

He did know that the new prophecy had asked him to enter the temple, but he had not been aware that talks of him being the High Priest were happening.

A High Priest was a highly coveted position, but it was highly restrictive as well. Once taken, only death would be able to free someone. And one also had to swear chastity to the Goddess (not that he had any left).

Shuu was the worst choice for it since he did not even have the Goddess’s favor, and he knew it.

’The Duke must be lying. But why? What would he get out of it?’

It could not simply be to get into Shuu’s good books. So Shuu gave him a searching look to see what he could be planning.

But all he got back was a smile.

"Ah, would you look at the time? I have some ’real’ work to do, so I should get going now. Baron Conner, let’s leave now."

Shuu looked at the familiar face of the man beside Duke Inferno. He did not need a paternity test to know this was Lady Elysia’s father.

He did not have the same flashy eyes and hair as Lady Elysia did, but his face looked exactly the same otherwise.

"Tsk-"

The Baron clearly had problems with Shuu... and for good reason. But at least he did not say anything to Shuu and left.

Unlike the nobles, the servants had no trouble gossiping around, and their words reached Shuu.

"That companion acts too high and mighty, but even the Goddess has abandoned him."

"Does he not realize what his presence in the imperial palace means right now? He’s putting us all at risk."

"I heard that the outside world has started to get infested with monsters once more. But does that make sense? The Demon Lord had always been sealed."

"Don’t you realize? It’s all that companion’s fault. None of this would have happened had he played his role right and left when needed."

"The Goddess must be punishing us all for his decision and our indecisiveness. Maybe we should pressure him to leave while Emperor Kaiden is not here..."

The words did not stop there, but Shuu stopped listening. He could not take it anymore, but he knew he had to endure.

He decided to return to his room when he suddenly ran into the last people he wanted to see - Princess Danielle and Lady Canarie.

They were both talking among themselves and giggling. But their expressions turned neutral (almost tense) as soon as their eyes landed on Shuu. And he felt equally awkward around them.

"Shuu, what are you doing out here? Do you need something? I don’t think you should be wandering around the imperial castle at such a time."

Princess Danielle spoke in a tense voice, and her eyes flashed toward Canarie when she said that. She clearly wanted to hint that his presence was a problem for Canarie, and that made Shuu feel worse.